A Jamaat Candidate, a Gunman, and a Whole Lot of Drama!!!

It is a 7-minute and 36-second long somewhat a spectacle featuring SM Khaliduzzaman, the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate for Dhaka-17, engaging in a heated showdown with an army personnel member.

The scene unfolded at the entrance of the Dhaka cantonment area, where the Jamaat candidate, accompanied by a gunman was denied entry due to the cantonment area’s security protocol rules. Though the Jamaat candidate was repeatedly assured of army security without his gunman within the cantonment area, his headstrong ego refused to budge.
It is perhaps his personal gunman is more committed safeguarding his life compared to members of a disciplined regular force or his gun is more lethal to our army’s automatic weapons.

To cut a long story short – the Jamaat candidate’s verbal fireworks were nothing short of a political soap opera.

The showdown picture, as captured in the clip shownthe candidate - all fired up, hurling accusations at the military, as if they were pinatas at a birthday party. The army personnel, displaying remarkable patience, repeatedly explained the cantonment area’s travel restrictions, but MrKhaliduzzaman, bless his head and heart, was on a roll, launching verbal grenades at the poor military personnel.

In the beginning, he accused them of “favouritism” towards certain political leaders.

And just when you think it couldn’t get any more dramatic, the Jamaat candidateturns full Shakespearean, exclaiming, “In Tarique Zia's case, you clean the roads with your tongue, so why can't he go?”

As if on the night before he had discovered a secret club where the army members sip tea with Mr Tarique Rahman while jointly plan to block travel routes of his political rivals.

I wish, if I could only have such a bombastic political flair while struck in Dhaka’s rude traffic awakenings, and particularly as a resident of Dhaka-17 constituency.

Here I am, gearing up to cast my vote on February 12 with my mother, and suddenly our options look like aTV reality show gone completely wrong.

The Jamaat candidate’s rude and comicalreactions left me baffled. Is this really the type of leadership we are preparing to elect as public representatives?

Watching him in the video clip was like witnessing a melodrama unfold, complete with dramatic gestures and postures that would make a soap opera star proud.A candidate who explodes with all-out anger over a logical security protocol through a sensitive military zone, at one point it appeared as if he had been deliberately cheated in a game of Monopoly.

The million-dollar question: If this is how MrKhaliduzzaman reacts to a travel restriction in a cantonment area, how would he treat his subjects, if he actually wins?

Perhaps he would demand a red carpet for all occasions and his political activities—complete with marching bands and confetti.After watching the full video clip twice, I couldn’t help but delete his name from my preferred candidates list without a second thought.

A constituency as significant as Dhaka-17, can ill-afford to elect a politician who seems to have missed the memo on decorum.

The Jamaat leader’s uncalled-for incident serves as an eye-opening lesson in the country’s political civility.

Voters want leaders who can handle pressure with grace, not candidates who resort to name-calling and accusations like a child in a playground scuffle.

In a country where political campaigning and discourses often resembles a circus, we need representatives who can rise above the fray. A little respect undeniably goes a long way, particularly dealing with the very institution responsible for safeguarding our independence, sovereignty and help maintain order in our society.

Let us all reflect once more to this aforementioned incident, and remind ourselves that a political leader’s ability to engage in a civil discourseis equally important as any campaign promise.

If a candidate can’t even handle a simple checkpoint security protocol without blowing a gasket, how can we trust him with vital responsibilities of public office?

So, as I prepare to cast my vote, I am looking for someone who can not only navigate the political landscape,but also do so with respect and responsibility.

To finish with, in the upcoming elections, I am expecting to see a caring and conscious public representative in my constituency, not a disruptive and a melodramatic side actor.If you feel as baffled as I do, let’s raise a toast to choosing matured and mindful candidates—hoping the next political drama is a little less chaotic.